The Sales Suitability Test: How Can I Be a Successful Salesperson?

You may think you are perfect for sales. Why not take this test to see if you’re suitable to be a successful salesperson?

Passion. Are you passionate about sales? Do you think that selling is the best way for you to make a difference in your clients’ businesses? Are you proud that you call yourself a salesman? That’s passion. I think that in sales especially you need to have passion.

Why? Because selling is a tough job.

Every time selling turns out differently than you want, it’s the passion that helps you pick yourself up and move on to the next challenge. Without passion, selling is a tough job that gets you slowly (or quickly) beaten down.

Organization. How organized are you? Sales calls need to be organized so that you maximize the time you have in front of your customer. If you’re organized, you can quickly change a 30-minute presentation to a 15-minute one if you have to.

When you’re organized you can quickly get to information you need to better serve a customer. In today’s business world, customers like fast answers. It takes an organized salesperson to deliver them. You have more time for other work with the time you free up.

Hard working.Do you mind hard work? I hope not. People who are looking to quit at 5 and start selling at 10 just won’t make their sales goals. Selling is not a 9-to-5 job.

The most successful salespeople are at their first sales call when their customers get to work. They drive to the customer on their own time. The primetime of selling is just that. It’s used to sell, not to do administrative work.

Your thinking is faulty if you think that you can be successful in sales without working hard. Successful salespeople are often working on their own time.

Competitive.Competition in sales is everywhere. It’s between you and your competition. It’s between you and other members of your team. Mostly, it’s between you and yourself. That sense of competition keeps sales fresh and exciting.

You will do well if you enjoy the competition and use it to propel yourself forward. Sales is really a civilized state of war. Think about it. In sales you’re either attacking the competition or being attacked. Competitive people survive it and thrive in this type of environment. Is that you?

Think about how you respond to these requirements. Are you the best person to sell? Good, because you’ll probably reach your sales goals. If not, you have some decisions to make. This might sell you on the idea to work harder or find something else to do other than sales.

Maura Schreier-Fleming is president of Best@Selling, a sales training and sales consulting company. She works with business and sales professionals to increase sales and earn larger profits. She is the author of Real-World Selling for Out-of-this-World Results and Monday Morning Sales Tips. Maura focuses on sales strategies and tactics that lead to better sales results. She speaks internationally on influence, selling skills, and strategic selling at trade association and sales meetings, demonstrating how her principles can be applied to get results. She successfully worked for over 20 years in the male-dominated oil industry with two major corporations, beginning at Mobil Oil and ending at Chevron Corp. She was Mobil Oil’s first female lubrication engineer in the U.S. and was one of Chevron’s top five salespeople in the U.S. having sold over $9 million annually. Maura writes several columns to share her sales philosophies. She's been quoted in the New York Times, Selling Power, and Entrepreneur.